It’s been a while since I reviewed Hellbreak. This series has consistently hit when life was at its busiest for me, so while I’ve kept up and enjoyed the series I haven’t gotten to review it until now. The first story arc has wrapped and while the fifth issue really had a lot of the payoff, this issue is no slouch.
Javier Romero has been saved from hell. Now he’s undergoing a psych-eval to see if he’s likely to be possessed again. He’s kind of pissed by the amount of money his wife spent and doesn’t remember being in hell. After he storms out we check in with our team that’s having a rough go of it after losing one of their own. The question is posed a few times in this issue, “what happens when you die in hell?” There’s a reveal in this issue and you have to wonder what Jenner will do with his new found curiosity and knowledge? Frankly as good and interesting as this issue was, I’m curious to see what the next arc has in store.

The pacing of this issue is great. Cullen Bunn, when left to his own devices and paired with a good editor, manages to churn out some great stuff. Very little technically happens in this issue, but Bunn manages to pacing to hide that fact and deliver a rewarding conclusion to the story arc.

Of course the real personality of the story comes from Brian Churilla’s artwork. He’s saved from illustrating any hellscapes this issue, but he still manages to deliver some great pages. In particular I enjoyed the ending sequence of the issue. It was realistic and a brilliant use of the page. It was like a fast montage progressing towards the end.

With this being the last issue in the arc there’s not a lot to say. It’s a solid issue and this series has been a treat from the beginning. I’ll be looking forward to the second arc and seeing what it has in store with all the new information we’ve learned over the course of this first arc. If you haven’t checked out the book and dig the supernatural then now’s a good time to pick up back issues and catch up on the first arc.